Agenda

Dr. Michael N. Desvigne is a true plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has chosen to dedicate his expertise to reconstructive surgery, specifically wound reconstruction. Dr, Desvigne believes performing reconstructive surgery has made him a better wound healing clinician and managing complex wounds has made him a better reconstructive surgeon. Dr. Desvigne brings a wealth of experience from a variety of disciplines. He is board certified in plastic surgery, general surgery, wound care and hyperbaric medicine. With this quadruple certification he approaches each wound problem with a staircase approach including surgical and nonsurgical solutions.

Dr. Desvigne is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He is a member of the American Society of Plastic Surgery (ASPS), the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) and the Arizona Society of Plastic Surgeons. He is also a member of the American Academy of Wound Specialists, Wound Healing Society and the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society. He is a world-renowned lecturer and consultant in wound healing technologies. He has created multiple programs for inpatient and outpatient centers of excellence in wound care, with a focus on the continuum of care.

Emily Greenstein, APRN, CNP, CWON-AP, FACCWS is a Certified Wound and Ostomy Nurse Practitioner at Essentia Health in Fargo, ND. She is certified as an Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. She has been involved with other wound organizations and . is currently elected to the Board of Directors for the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists, past president of the North Central chapter for the wound, ostomy and contience society. Emily has served as an expert reviewer for the WOCN Society and the Journal for WOCN. She is a blogger for Wound Source. Her main career focus is on the advancement of wound care through evidence-based research.

Cathy is an Advanced Practice WOC nurse who delivers care across the continuum, including acute care, long-term care, home health, and outpatient settings. As a clinician with Connecticut Clinical Nursing Associates, she also consults with organizations to improve wound outcomes, conducts clinical research, and lectures both nationally and internationally. She has published numerous articles, authored several book chapters and is the Co-Editor of the texts Wound, Ostomy, Continence Secrets and the Wound Care Certification Study Guide, Third Edition. Cathy is a former Nurse Board Member of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) and currently serves as a Board Member of the Post-Acute Wound and Skin Care Integrity Council (PAWSIC). She is also a member of the AAWC Educational Planning Committee and serves as Chair of the Coalition for At-Risk Skin (CARS). In addition, she holds an appointment as Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Yale School of Nursing. Cathy is the recipient of the John A. Boswick Award.

With more than four decades of clinical and academic expertise, Dr. Diane L. Krasner is widely recognized as a driving force in the advancement of wound, ostomy, and continence care. As a board-certified wound care nurse (CWCN), Dr. Krasner has dedicated her career to improving outcomes for patients with complex skin and wound conditions. Her work spans hospital, long-term care, home health, and rehabilitation settings, making her a trusted voice in interdisciplinary skin health management.
Currently serving as the Treasurer to the Coalition for At-Risk Skin (CARS, www.coalitionforatriskskin.org), Diane provides strategic counsel rooted in years of evidence-based practice and leadership. She also holds the role of Past President of the Post-Acute Wound & Skin Integrity Council (PAWSIC, www.pawsic.org), continuing her commitment to advocacy, education, and professional mentorship.
Dr. Krasner’s contributions to the field are reflected in her many honors:
• Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN, AAN)
• Inaugural Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (FAWCA, AAWC)
• Inaugural Master of the American Professional Wound Care Association (MAPWCA, APWCA)
• Inaugural Fellow of the Wound, Ostomy and Continence Nurses Society (WOCNF, WOCNS)
In addition to her clinical leadership, Diane is a highly sought-after educator, published author, and expert witness. Her insights continue to shape policy, inform litigation, and elevate standards of care.
Diane is the PAWSIC point person for the AADA-PAWSIC ICD-10-CM Skin Failure Code Initiative. She represents the very best of what it means to lead with purpose, compassion, and scientific rigor.

Associate Professor Sharon Latimer is a Registered Nurse with more than 25 years of clinical experience in medicine, gerontology, rehabilitation, and dermatology. She is a Principal Research Fellow within the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Wiser Wound Care and the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Griffith University. In 2016, she completed her PhD on patient participation in pressure injury prevention. Sharon is internationally recognised for her research on end-of-life wounds and, in 2023, developed an assessment tool for wounds that occur in some people during the dying process. She has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, and her research has informed Australian and international clinical practice guidelines and standards, including the International Prevention and Treatment of Pressure Injuries Clinical Practice Guideline, the 2022 Aged Care Quality Standards, and the Aged Care Clinical Standards.

Ronald Rosen, MD, CMD, CWSP is a geriatrician and hospice physician with Mass General Brigham, specializing in the care of older adults in skilled nursing and post-acute care settings. He has extensive clinical experience in wound management, skin integrity, palliative care, and the complex medical and psychosocial issues affecting medically frail older adults.

Dr. Rosen is actively involved in professional education and serves on the board of the Post Acute Wound and Skin Integrity Council (PAWSIC). He is also a member of the Post-Acute and Long-Term Medicine (PALTMed) community, a faculty member of their Core Curriculum and contributes to Caring for the Ages, writing on clinical topics relevant to post-acute and long-term care.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Rosen is a medical-legal consultant and educator, bringing a practical perspective to the intersection of clinical care, documentation, communication, and patient safety. His presentations emphasize evidence-based practice while incorporating real-world clinical examples, audience interaction, and strategies that clinicians can immediately apply to patient care.

Dr. Rosen is particularly interested in wound care as a multidisciplinary endeavor and in improving outcomes through better clinical reasoning, communication, and collaboration among physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, therapists, patients, and families.

Dr. Brandt is a professor and Parke-Davis Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research (P-SHOR) and executive director of the Peter Lamy Center on Drug Therapy and Aging at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. Dr. Brandt has expanded available geriatric training opportunities, including the geriatrics/palliative care pathway, ASHP-accredited geriatrics residency, and two-year post-PharmD fellowship. She was named the 2019 recipient of the American Geriatrics Society’s (AGS) Dennis W. Jahnigen Memorial Award for her leadership in geriatrics education. She has worked on various interdisciplinary teams across numerous practice settings and is currently leading initiatives to integrate sustainable pharmacist-directed services to help older adults with multiple co-morbidities at the MedStar Center for Successful Aging. Dr. Brandt has been active in promoting optimal care for older adults and has affected this through her educational, clinical, as well as healthcare policy work. She co-led an initiative that led to the University of Maryland, Baltimore and University of Maryland, Baltimore County to become the first universities in the state of Maryland to receive Age-Friendly University distinction. She was a Fulbright Program Specialist from 2023 – 2024 with the University of Helsinki to work on Age-Friendly Care initiatives.  

Satya Williams is a clinically trained, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with advanced training and board certification in Functional and Integrative Nutritional Medicine. Functional medicine—often referred to as “root cause medicine”—provides a science-based framework for identifying and addressing the underlying physiologic imbalances that contribute to chronic disease and reduced quality of life. His integrative medicine training further supports the incorporation of evidence-informed nutrition therapies with validated holistic and lifestyle-based approaches to optimize patient outcomes.
Satya has developed specialized expertise in digestive health and its connection to complex metabolic, inflammatory, neurologic, and chronic health conditions. His clinical focus areas include:
• Cardiometabolic disease, including diabetes, prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obesity, and insulin resistance
• Aging, nutrition & health
• Digestive health, including SIBO, dysbiosis, food sensitivities, and gastrointestinal dysfunction
• Cardiovascular health
• Thyroid, metabolic, and hormonal health
• Integrative oncology nutritional support
• Therapeutic ketogenic diet therapies
• Brain and cognitive health, including epilepsy/ seizure disorders, concussion recovery, mood, neurotransmitter support, anxiety, depression, learning disabilities, and healthy aging
• Bone and joint health, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
• Autoimmune and inflammatory conditions
• Pediatric nutrition, picky eating, and feeding dynamics
• Sports & performance nutrition; injuries & healing
• Healthy weight optimization and body composition support
• Microbial and environmental health factors, including bacterial and fungal/mold-related imbalances
Satya’s approach emphasizes personalized, evidence-based nutrition strategies designed to improve function, support resilience, and address the interconnected systems that influence long-term health.

Dr. Jayesh B. Shah is the President of TIMEO2 Healing Concepts, LLC, which provides consulting and education services in wound care and hyperbaric medicine;Past Medical Director of NE & Mission Trail Baptist, Soutwest General Hospital and UMH wound clinics. Past President of South Texas Wound Associates, where he provided clinical wound care services in San Antonio for the past 28 years; Past President of American College of Hyperbaric Medicine; Immediate Past President of Texas Medical Association. He is current Co- Chair of WoundCON. He is also CMO of PACT 2,Northwest Health Center, Audie Murphy Veteran Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. He is also CMO of MR3 Health, San Antonio, Texas

He has published “Wound Care Certification Study Guide” in 2011,2016,2021; Textbook of Chronic Wound Care: An Evidence-Based Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment in 2018, and created “WoundDoctor” Free App.He has authored over 40 chapters on wound topics in 4 books and 30+ scientific articles in wound care and hyperbaric medicine. He is past Assistant Editor of Journal of ACCWS and present editorial board member of Today's Wound Clinic.

To his credit, Dr. Shah is the recipient of the Gold Award for Wound Hygiene Implementation issued by JWC WUWHS Awards (2022), Lifetime Achievement Award (2020) Diabetes Research Award (2019) Paul James Sheffield Education Award for Lifetime Dedication to Education in the field of Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine (2014); Jefferson C. Davis Memorial Award for Excellence in Clinical Hyperbaric Medicine (2007 and 2011); Carolyn Sue Award (2009); Young Scientist/Medical Doctor Award (2008).

Dr. Padula is a professor of pharmaceutical & health economics at the University of Southern California, a Scholar at the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, and a Principal & Co-Founder of Stage Analytics. His work focuses on the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis, particularly in the areas of wound care and hospital patient safety. He has more than 150 scientific publications, and his work has received funding support from NIH, AHRQ, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the PhRMA Foundation’s Frontier Award and Value Assessment Initiative. He is a current member of the Board of Directors for the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) - the world's largest professional organization in health economics, is an Associate Editor for Value in Health, and has been recognized by ISPOR with the 2022 Bernie J. O’Brien Award, and HEOR Excellence Awards in both Application in 2019 and Methodology in 2024. Previously he served on the Commission on Magnet and as board member of the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), and was the President of NPIAP from 2021-2023. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University, M.S. in Health Policy from Dartmouth College, M.Sc. in Analytics from The University of Chicago, Ph.D. in Pharmacoeconomics from University of Colorado, as well as completed his postdoctoral training in health economics at The University of Chicago.

Cathy is an Advanced Practice WOC nurse who delivers care across the continuum, including acute care, long-term care, home health, and outpatient settings. As a clinician with Connecticut Clinical Nursing Associates, she also consults with organizations to improve wound outcomes, conducts clinical research, and lectures both nationally and internationally. She has published numerous articles, authored several book chapters and is the Co-Editor of the texts Wound, Ostomy, Continence Secrets and the Wound Care Certification Study Guide, Third Edition. Cathy is a former Nurse Board Member of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC) and currently serves as a Board Member of the Post-Acute Wound and Skin Care Integrity Council (PAWSIC). She is also a member of the AAWC Educational Planning Committee and serves as Chair of the Coalition for At-Risk Skin (CARS). In addition, she holds an appointment as Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Yale School of Nursing. Cathy is the recipient of the John A. Boswick Award.

Jeanine Maguire, a Physical Therapist and Certified Wound Specialist is a visionary leader and PhD scholar dedicated to connecting and building high-performing teams to dramatically improve health care and patient outcomes. With nearly three decades in wound management, Dr. Maguire previously held the impactful role of VP of Skin Health and Wound Management Integrations at Genesis HealthCare, managing a program that scaled technology and standardized care across 500 nursing homes nationwide. Her innovative spirit led her to serve as a Chief Clinical Delivery Officer for a Value Based Care Wound Start-up, where she was a pioneer in building sophisticated care pathways and collaborating with AI engineers to develop evidence-based clinical guidance rules. Her commitment to integrated, patient-centered care culminated in her role as President and co-founder of the rising global non-profit, the Post-Acute Wound Skin Integrity Council (PAWSIC), driving advocacy and educational excellence across the post-acute sector and beyond.

Brad Spellberg, MD

Dr. Spellberg is Chief Medical Officer at the Los Angeles General Medical Center, one of the largest public hospitals in the US. He also staffs, Internal Medicine ward teams, Infectious Diseases consulting service, and the antibiotic stewardship service at LA General, and maintains an active NIH-funded basic science laboratory that focuses on novel solutions to combatting antibiotic-resistant infections. In 2009, he published the book Rising Plague to inform and educate the public about the crisis in antibiotic resistant infections and lack of antibiotic development. His latest book, Broken, Bankrupt, and Dying: How to Solve the Great American Healthcare Rip-Off, was published in June of 2020.

Dr. Fife completed a Family Medicine residency at the University of Texas, Southwestern in Dallas followed by a two-year Fellowship in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine at Duke University. Until 2013 she was a Professor of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston where she initiated the Memorial Hermann Center for Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine and the Lymphedema Center. She is now a Professor of Geriatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. She serves as the Chief Medical Officer of Intellicure, LLC, a health information technology company, and the Executive Director of the U.S. Wound Registry, a non-profit organization recognized by CMS as a qualified clinical data registry (QCDR). The USWR develops wound relevant quality measures and helps wound care practitioners meet the requirements of Medicare’s Quality Payment Program. She currently serves on the boards of the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders (past co-chair), and CLI Global Society, and she is on the American Diabetes Association's Amputation Prevention Coalition. She is co-chair of the Real World Evidence Work Group for the Wound Care Collaborative Community. Past board activities include the American Academy of Wound Management, the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care, and the American Professional Wound Care Association. She has authored more than 100 peer reviewed articles and book chapters as well as editing 3 textbooks.Her current focus is the use of real world data to find what works in the treatment of chronic wounds.

Andrea Deja-Fidai, MSN, RN, CWON, CNL, CMSRN is a Clinical Consulting Specialist RN at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. With more than 14 years of nursing experience, including specialized expertise in wound and ostomy care, she leads multidisciplinary initiatives focused on pressure injury prevention, skin assessment, patient safety, and nursing education. Andrea has contributed to the implementation of innovative practices, including the use of the Monk Skin Tone Scale to support equitable pressure injury assessment across diverse patient populations. She is actively involved in research, quality improvement, and professional development efforts, with work presented at national conferences. Her passion centers on translating evidence into practical bedside strategies that improve outcomes and advance health equity.

Helen B Gelly, MD, FACCWS, FUHM, FACHM, UHM/ABPM
President, Regenerative and Hyperbaric Medicine
Atlanta GA.

Dr. Gelly has been involved in the practice of hyperbaric medicine and wound care since 1991. She has established a number of non-hospital-affiliated wound care and hyperbaric centers. She has held academic appointments at Emory University Department of Emergency Medicine and her group provided 24/7 emergency/critical care call for hyperbaric medicine for over 19 years. She is co-chair of the UHMS QUAR committee that participates in regulatory issues, as well as a member of the Education Committee and the Research Committee of the UHMS. She is president-elect of the UHMS. Dr. Gelly has been involved with governmental agencies in the areas of hyperbaric oxygen therapy and wound care, including CTP issues.

Dr. Catherine Oliver, MD, CWSP
Wound Care / Emergency Medicine Physician
Director of Wound Education, AlohaWound Care, LLC
Queenʻs Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii

Dr. Oliver graduated from Tufts University and earned her medical doctorate at John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) at University of Hawaii in Manoa, followed by residency training in Emergency Medicine with an additional Emergency Medicine Ultrasound fellowship at Stanford University. She is a board-certified Emergency Physician with over 13 years of experience at Queenʻs Health Systemʻs Level 1 trauma emergency department where she served as Department Chief. With her interest in education she completed a medical education fellowship at JABSOM and served as the Emergency medicine Clerkship and Emergency Ultrasound Director. She next transitioned to wound care and obtained her CWSP from American Board of Wound Management and for the past 8 years has served as the Director of Education for Aloha Wound Care, LLC and practices in both outpatient wound clinics and as an inpatient consultant throughout the Queenʻs Medical Health System in Hawaiʻi.

Dr. Pamela Scarborough, PT, DPT, MS, CWS, FAAWC, is a clinician, educator, consultant, author, and nationally recognized speaker with nearly five decades of experience across the healthcare continuum. Her diverse background—including orthopedics and sports medicine, cardiac rehabilitation, home health, long-term care, diabetes education, wound management, and the healthcare industry—has shaped her whole-person approach to wound prevention, healing, and functional recovery.

Dr. Scarborough is the Principal of PARKS Institute, an education entity she established in 1998. Today, she provides consulting and educational services through select professional projects, including PAWSIC’s Skin Failure initiative. As Founding Faculty of the Wound Certification Prep Course, she continues to teach, mentor, and prepare clinicians and healthcare industry professionals for wound board certification while contributing to the advancement of wound science and skin integrity education.

Zwelithini "Zweli" Tunyiswa is the founder and CEO of Open Wound Research, where he leads Bayesian statistics, randomized controlled trials, and real-world evidence studies in chronic wound care. His research spans advanced wound-care modalities, wound-associated pain, and nutrition in healing, and includes a Bayesian hierarchical meta-analysis of the trials underpinning Medicare's 2024 Local Coverage Determinations and statistical analyses of multicenter trials in diabetic foot, venous leg, and pressure ulcers. He and his team at Open Wound Research built the LiftOff and BaseCamp registries to advance real-world evidence in wound care. His scholarship covers wound-care research methodology, Bayesian methods for economic and lifetime analyses, and real-world evidence for regulatory and reimbursement decisions.

Mr. Tunyiswa serves on the Editorial Board of Chronic Wound Care Management and Research, on the Research Board of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC), and chairs the Clinical Trial Standards & Reporting Workstream of the Wound Care Collaborative Community (WCCC). He hosts the Open Wound Research Podcast and is the co-architect of the CONSORT 2025 Flowchart Generator and the WoundStats community forum. He speaks regularly at major wound-care meetings. Through the Bexia project, he has built an international research network linking U.S. clinicians with leading South African wound-care specialists. He holds a degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Ruotsi is the Medical Director of Wound Healing and Hyperbaric Medicine at Holland Hospital in Holland, Michigan. In this role he is responsible for clinical oversight and patient care in the department. He is board certified in Wound Care by the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery, is certified as a Wound Specialist (CWS-P) by the American Board of Wound Management, and is board certified in Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. He is additionally certified as a Diving Medical Officer (DMO) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He has recently completed his second three-year term on the Board of Directors of the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP) and was chair of its Education Committee as well as the Public Policy Committee. He is a Founding Diplomate and emeritus board member of the American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery and is Chair of the Wound Care Summit for the annual Amputation Prevention (AMP) Symposium. He is a member of the CLI Global Wound Care Board, the Wound Healing Society (WHS), is a faculty member of the Wound Certification Prep Course, and lectures nationally as well as internationally on topics related to wound care and hyperbaric medicine. Dr. Ruotsi lives with his wife, Dot and 2 dogs in Holland, Michigan.

Ms. Couch graduated with her Master of Science in Nursing (FNP) from Georgetown University in 2002. She is a Doctoral student in Nursing Practice-Systems Leadership (DNP-SL) at the University of Pennsylvania. She currently serves as Director of Wound Care Services and Employee Health Services at The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and as an Associate Research Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences at George Washington University. Her wound care interests include caring for persons with limb loss/limb differences, complex abdominal wounds, and use of technology in wound healing.
Ms. Couch is the current Chair of the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders and the Immediate Past-President of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC). Kara is a Fellow of the Association of the Advancement of Wound Care. Kara also serves on the Scientific and Medical Advisory Committee of the Amputee Coalition. She is an editorial board member of the International Wound Journal, Journal of Wound Management, and WoundSource 2026. She has authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed papers and lectures nationally and internationally on wound care topics.

Daniel M. Stein, MD, MHS, FACS, is Chair of the Department of Urology at the George Washington University and an Associate Professor in Urology forcusing on Genitourinary Trauma and Reconstruction. He is a fellowship-trained reconstructive urologist whose clinical practice focuses on complex genitourinary reconstruction, genitourinary trauma, urethral stricture disease, neurogenic bladder, fistula, and complex genitourinary soft-tissue conditions.

Dr. Stein has particular expertise in the management of complex genital and perineal wounds, including Fournier’s gangrene, hidradenitis suppurativa, buried penis, and tissue loss resulting from trauma, infection, radiation, and prior surgery. His approach emphasizes appropriate debridement, advanced wound care, staged reconstruction, and multidisciplinary collaboration to restore both function and form.

In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Stein is actively involved in medical education and academic leadership. He previously served as Residency Program Director at George Washington University and continues to teach residents, fellows, and practicing clinicians on reconstructive urology and genitourinary trauma. His academic interests include improving operative strategies and multidisciplinary care for complex genitourinary injuries and wounds.

Michele Deppisch, a distinguished self-employed wound care consultant, holds certifications as a clinical wound specialist from the American Board of Wound Management and as a Fellow in the American College of Clinical Wound Specialists. Her expertise and dedication extend to various leadership roles within the National Pressure Injury Advisory Panel (NPIAP), where she currently serves as President on the Board of Directors.

Within NPIAP, Michele actively contributes to multiple committees, including the Education, Research, and Standards Committees, and as Task Force Leader for the eCQM Hospital Harm - Pressure Injury Quality Reporting Measure.

Michele's contributions extend beyond committee work; she has authored numerous resources available through the NPIAP website, including the recently published Root Cause Analysis + OR Toolkit 3.0. Additionally, she co-authored pivotal works, including "The Role of Shear Stress and Shear Strain in Pressure Injury Development" and "The Clinical Relevance of Microclimate Tests on Support Surfaces."

In recognition of her outstanding dedication to pressure injury prevention, Michele was honored several times with the prestigious NPIAP President's Award. Her tireless efforts and leadership significantly advance the mission of Pressure Injury Prevention, impacting countless individuals within the wound care community.